Broward Injury Lawyer Blog

February 6, 2017

$38 Million Verdict to Bicyclist Injured by Valet

There several dozen valet services in downtown Fort Lauderdale that offer assistance to motorists who need help parking their vehicles in the crowded urban streetscape. Often, these vehicles are parked off-site of where they are dropped off. The valet driver must drive the car to the off-site location and then return them.

For the most part, these workers are diligent in doing their job safely. However, there have been some cases reported where the drivers are careless with property or in abiding basic traffic laws.

One such case was recently chronicled before a trial court in Seattle, where a bicyclist was awarded $38 million by a jury in a claim against a valet company whose drivers routinely took illegal shortcuts in dropping off and picking up vehicles. Continue reading

February 2, 2017

Florida Lawmakers Consider Repeal of No-Fault Auto Insurance

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Florida lawmakers are slated to begin considering whether to repeal the state’s long-standing no-fault auto insurance requirement. On average, this additional protection costs drivers about $81 per policy, according to recent research. The question legislators have to decide is whether those savings are going to be worth it in the end due to the fact that it will likely result in an uptick of car accident lawsuits.

The no-fault insurance for motor vehicles allows that there is “no-fault” when it comes to paying out an auto insurance claim following a car accident under a certain amount. Instead, drivers are required to carry personal injury protection (PIP) coverage, which extends payment for any medical expenses and certain non-medical costs associated with the crash, such as lost wages or replacement benefits (i.e., having someone come help you clean your house while you are unable to do so). All Florida drivers are required to carry a minimum level of PIP benefits in addition to liability insurance requirements. Then if they are involved in a crash, they file a claim with their own auto insurer. The only way they can pursue a claim outside that no-fault system is if the injuries are considered permanent or permanently disfiguring/ scarring or if there is some significant or total loss of an important bodily function. Drivers have to carry at least $10,000 in PIP benefits.

Legislators have decided that in the spring, they will mull a proposal to scrap the no-fault insurance law that has been followed in the state since the 1970s. Continue reading

January 31, 2017

Baugh v. Cuprum – $11 Million Ladder Injury Verdict Affirmed

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

An $11 million injury verdict was affirmed recently by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which held there was sufficient evidence plaintiff in Baugh v. Cuprum proved his injury was owed to the defective design of a ladder from which he fell.

Ladder falls are a major problem at American workplaces, but they are also problematic for those off-the-clock as well. Every year, more than 90,000 people are treated in U.S. emergency rooms due to ladder-related injuries. Elevated falls account for 700 work-related deaths every year, which account for 15 percent of all occupational fatalities. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports ladder-related accidents have increased by 50 percent over the last decade.

Some of the issue involves user error. This could mean using the wrong ladder for the type of task at hand. It could also mean improperly placing the ladder or not using the ladder the right way. It could be the fault of the ladder owner for failure to maintain the ladder or allowing one to be used that is damaged or worn. However, there are also a fair number of these cases that stem from use of ladders that are defectively designed or defectively manufactured. Continue reading

January 26, 2017

Entila v. Cook – Suing a Co-Worker for Personal Injury

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Work is a dangerous place for many in South Florida, and there are numerous opportunities to get hurt, depending on the field. Falls are typically the most common, but motor vehicles accidents are a significant source of workers’ compensation claims too. Workers’ compensation benefits are typically the only source of money one can get from an employer for a work-related injury. The good news is employees don’t have to prove the company was negligent, but they are usually only entitled to coverage of medical bills and a portion of lost wages. Injuries caused by co-workers – even negligent co-workers – usually fall under this exclusive remedy umbrella.

However, if a worker is injured by a co-worker who was not acting in the course and scope of employment, then the injured worker may be able to pursue a claim directly against that co-worker.

This was the situation in Entila v. Cook, recently weighed by the Washington Supreme Court. Although the ruling doesn’t have a direct bearing on cases in Florida, it’s known that state high courts will often look to the rulings set by other state supreme courts in deciding similar cases. Continue reading

January 21, 2017

Florida Most Dangerous Place for Pedestrians, Analysis Shows

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Pedestrians aren’t safe in Florida. In fact, this state – and the Southern part of it in particular – is the most dangerous place in America for people to venture out on foot.

That’s according to a new study, Dangerous by Design 2016, conducted by SmartGrowth America, in concert with the National Complete Streets Coalition. In fact, eight of the ten most dangerous metro areas to walk in the nation are in Florida. Those regions in the top 10 are:

Fort Myers
Palm Bay/ Melbourne
Orlando
Jacksonville
Daytona Beach
Lakeland/ Winter Haven
Tampa/ St. Petersburg
North Port/ Sarasota

The Miami/ Fort Lauderdale/ West Palm Beach region was listed at No. 11 nationally. This was out of the 104 largest metro areas in the country. Continue reading

January 17, 2017

Legislators Seek to Toughen Penalties for Distracted Drivers

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Every year, thousands of people in the U.S. die in distracted driving accidents – 3,400 in 2015, to be exact. While most states, including Florida, have some type of law on the books that aims to curb these incidents. But there are plenty of traffic safety advocates who say these measures aren’t doing enough.

Just take Florida, for example. F.S. 316.305 went into effect in 2013 (and was one of the last texting-and-driving bans in the country to be enacted). The statute prohibits a person from operating a motor vehicle while manually typing or entering multiple letters, numbers, symbols or other characters into a phone or wireless communication device. So far so good, right? But there are a few issues. First off, it’s a secondary offense, which means police can’t initiate a traffic stop on this basis alone; they can only issue a citation if they stop a driver for another offense. Even if they do ticket the driver, it’s only a $35 citation for a first-time offender. Not much of a deterrent. Beyond that, the law doesn’t ban talking (which studies have shown can be just as distracting) or dialing a number (and it can be tough for an officer to discern the difference between that and texting from outside the vehicle, especially if it’s moving). Also, it doesn’t address the expanding technology, which includes video chats.

Now, there are two bills on the table to enhance penalties for those who violate Florida’s current ban on texting and driving. HB 47 would increase the fine (doubling it for offenses in school zones or designated crossings) and also make the violation a primary offense, as opposed to a secondary offense. Meanwhile, HB 69 targets drivers 18 or younger, and would make the offense primary only for these motorists. Continue reading

January 14, 2017

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Alleges Restaurant Negligent in Triple Murder

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Good Samaritans are often lauded when they intervene in potentially perilous situations to help others. But are there grounds to assert negligence for those who fail to intervene in such circumstances?

This is what is being alleged in a wrongful death lawsuit in Ohio, where a woman and her two daughters were gunned down by her husband at a Cracker Barrel restaurant after a heated confrontation that ensued when she told him she was leaving him. The family had gone to the restaurant for a birthday dinner with their two 10-year-old girls when the events took a turn. The husband reportedly threatened to, “kill them all,” shouted an expletive while paying for the bill, accidentally dropped several shotgun shells from his pocket. According to the wrongful death lawsuit, filed by the woman’s brother, the girls’ uncle, the mother called a friend and the police and begged the manger to allow her and her daughters to hide in the restaurant’s walk-in cooler. The manager allegedly refused the request, telling her the restaurant doesn’t get involved in domestic disputes.

Her husband returned with a shotgun and killed her and her two daughters, who were hiding in the restroom. Police then shot and killed the gunman. An attorney for plaintiff alleges the woman and her daughters were left to take care of themselves in a dangerous situation. He cited the protocol that many chain restaurants and retail facilities have to deal with violent or active shooter situations, and argued that such incidents, while terrifying, are in fact foreseeable. Continue reading

January 10, 2017

Modisette v. Apple Inc. – Distracted Driving Blamed on Crash That Killed 5-Year-Old

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

The family of a 5-year-old girl killed in a car accident by a driver who was reportedly distracted is suing technology giant Apple Inc. for wrongful death. Plaintiffs allege Apple officials knew its FaceTime app, in use by the at-fault driver at the time of the fatal crash, was being used by drivers in a dangerous manner. Further, plaintiffs say, Apple had the technology needed to make the app inaccessible to drivers (while still allowing passengers to access it), and yet chose not to implement it.

Specifically, plaintiffs say the company failed to install and implement a safer alternative design that would have halted a driver from accessing the app while speeding down the highway.

According to court records in Modisette v. Apple Inc., filed in the Superior Court of California in Santa Clara County, the girl was in a booster seat in the rear passenger seat, behind her father, who was driving. He slowed his vehicle because traffic ahead on the highway was backed to a standstill. However, the driver behind them, a 22-year-old from Florida in a sport utility vehicle, apparently didn’t notice the slowed traffic as he barreled down the road at 65 mph. He slammed into the back of the car. Everyone was injured, the little girl and her dad most severely. He survived. She did not. Continue reading

January 7, 2017

NHTSA: V2V Technology Could Prevent Thousands of Car Accidents

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is proposing a rule that would accelerate the kind of vehicle-to-vehicle technology that would allow cars to “talk” to one another, and ultimately prevent accidents.

Under the proposed rule, all new cars and like trucks would communicate wirelessly not just with one another, but with traffic lights and other roadway infrastructure. NHTSA officials say the technology has the potential to transform driving and dramatically slash the number of traffic deaths every year. The rule would be mandatory for all new model vehicles, if the rule is approved.

So how exactly would this work? Well first, it’s important to outline what V2V is. It is a type of crash avoidance technology that hinges on the communication of information between nearby vehicles that can warn drivers about possibly hazardous situations that might lead to a collision. For instance, V2V technology could alert a driver that the vehicle up ahead is breaking, so they need to slow down. It could also inform a motorist that it isn’t safe to go through an intersection because another vehicle – one that can’t yet be seen by the driver – is fast approaching that same intersection. The information communicated would involve short-range data (about 300 meters) that would include other vehicle information such as:

Location
Speed
Direction
Breaking status

This information exceeds what can be gleaned from the current cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors that many vehicles are currently affixed with. V2V communications can also detect a threat much sooner than camera sensors or radar. In fact, the data is shot out at a rate of about 10 times per second. Continue reading

January 3, 2017

Kaplan v. Dutra – Protecting Debtor’s Personal Injury Claims in Bankruptcy

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Personal bankruptcy filings have been declining in recent years – which is an indicator of national recovery. But there were still 3,440 filed in Florida just in January 2016. Such filing are popular in the first month of the year, when consumers begin to carefully assess their finances after the holidays. Bankruptcy, of course, should be the last and final option for anyone facing financial hardship, as so many personal injury victims do after suffering from severe injuries.

In most situations, people who have obtained a favorable judgment for that personal injury are allowed to claim an exemption to be able to retain those damages, instead of having to dole it out to creditors. However, there could be some variation of this from state-to-state.

In Florida, you can keep the money you get (or will get) as a result of a lawsuit or settlement award – if that money is exempt under state and/or federal statutes. Florida’s personal injury exemption is listed in F.S. 769.05, which protects settlements or awards received if you are injured in a hazardous occupation. The law also allows you to keep up to $1,000 of your own personal property, up to $1,000 of a lawsuit or settlement and up to $4,000 of personal property (which includes a lawsuit or settlement award). Keep in mind that if you have commingled your funds, you may potentially lose your settlement or jury award. A bankruptcy attorney can help you sort this all out, but if you are considering bankruptcy prior to filling a personal injury lawsuit, you may want to discuss this with your injury lawyer to make sure you’ll be able to keep whatever you win. Continue reading